Bitcoin Rebounds (Up 8%), Terra Surges (Up 20%) And Can Crypto Companies Resist Pressure To Leave Russia?
Last Updated on 9 March 2022 by CryptoTips.eu
Bitcoin and most major altcoins rebounded this morning, with the world’s biggest cryptocurrency adding 8% to trade at $41k at the time of writing. Terra even gained 20%. Unlike stocks, which have been decisively lower in the past few weeks, Bitcoin and most known digital currencies have been able to trade within a tight range and limit their losses.
The move upwards this morning came after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, normally a staunch attacker of crypto, revealed that the White House’s coming crypto order would take a constructive approach in regulating the digital asset industry.
Using crypto as a lifeline
In the past few days, a movement has grown in the US to boycott any company that doesn’t leave Russia. Both Coca Cola and McDonalds had come under great pressure for refusing to leave the Russian clientele, who are devourers of their cheap meals and sugary drinks apparently. This morning they admitted to closures.
Even international law firms have been faced with a possible boycott, although we fail to see how the general public would enforce this as it is mostly companies that use lawyer services.
Another business that has seen pressure to leave the lucrative Russian market in recent days is crypto. Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and KuCoin and other crypto exchanges have explained they will not block Russian customers from using their platforms. The companies claim that blocking ordinary citizens runs contrary to their crypto-isn’t-tied-to-a-
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, the highest profile American CEO of the crypto industry, explained in a series of tweets last week that “ordinary Russians are using crypto as a lifeline” as their local currency, the ruble, plummeted as a result of economic sanctions imposed by the US and the EU on Russia.
The speed at which @coinbase whipped out a global sanctions system for crypto is probably the single biggest sell out in the history of crypto.
— Ben Armstrong (@Bitboy_Crypto) March 7, 2022
Russia today.... U.S. citizens tomorrow.
Gotta say I'm very disappointed in Uncle Brian for this.
We are not preemptively banning all Russians from using Coinbase. We believe everyone deserves access to basic financial services unless the law says otherwise.
Block Russian customers
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is of the same idea, stating that:
Crypto is meant to provide greater financial freedom for people across the globe. To unilaterally decide to ban people’s access to their crypto would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists.
However, should the US government order American crypto companies to block their Russian customers, it will be interesting to see whether Asian and European exchanges will follow suit, and if the price of Bitcoin itself would fall as a result.
VisualGeneration / Depositphotos.com
